* Government minister questions existing lawBy Allison MartellTORONTO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Canada’s Conservative
government is increasingly showing impatience with federal
labor laws as it seeks to prevent strikes that it says would
damage the economy.The government has threatened or used anti-strike
legislation three times since it won a majority in Parliament
in May’s general election.Last week, in an unusual effort to prevent a strike, Labor
Minister Lisa Raitt asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board
to consider whether an impending strike by flight attendants at
Air Canada , the country’s biggest airline,
would pose a health and safety risk.The immediate effect of Raitt’s request was to stop the
strike from starting because no labor actions can occur while a
health and safety issue is before the board. The more normal
way for the government to prevent a strike, passing
legislation, was not available because Parliament was not in
session.The longer-range effect of Raitt’s action, however, was to
shine a light on what may be a broad disconnect between the
government and the industrial relations board, which is charged
with enforcing the Canada Labor Code, a document that governs
labor relations in banking, interprovincial transportation and
telecommunications.”The purpose of the code is to promote collective
bargaining. Part of the problem we have is that we have a
government that’s opposed to (collective bargaining), and
legislation that promotes it,” said Mary Cornish, labor lawyer
and partner at Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish
LLP.The preamble to the labor code describes a Canadian
tradition of promoting “free collective bargaining and the
constructive settlement of disputes,” and that preamble guides
the actions of the quasi-judicial CIRB, whose members usually
come from both unions and business.”The CIRB is not expected to be completely unbiased when we
interpret the Canada labor code,” CIRB Chairwoman Elizabeth
MacPherson said soon after her 2008 appointment.”The CIRB and its predecessor…have consistently
interpreted the code so as to encourage the establishment of
collective bargaining relationships,” she said.The board certifies and dissolves unions, and workers,
unions or employers can appeal to it if they believe the code
has been violated.”When we’re trying to define neutrality in the context of
labor boards, their job is to carry out the fundamental
purposes of the act,” said University of Ottawa law professor
Pamela Chapman. “They’re not there to question whether there
should be collective bargaining.”Expressing frustration with the bargaining process at Air
Canada, where flight attendants twice rejected tentative
agreements with management that their own union leaders had
endorsed, Raitt said last week that the government was looking
closely at the Canada Labor Code.”There’s something wrong in this case, and does that mean
there’s something wrong in the code?” she asked in an interview
with CBC, the nation’s public broadcaster.A spokeswoman declined to say if that meant the government
wanted to change the code.Canada’s Parliament would have to approve any amendments to
the labor code. The left-leaning New Democrats, the biggest
opposition party, would be bound to object, but the
Conservatives’ majority in Parliament means they could force
through changes.
